Notes from VIP Barry Trotz and Assistants Meet and Greet/Chalk Talk last night attended by myself:
OV wing spot will be determined in pre-season. Will start at RW, but Trotz foresees a move to LW due to how the off-season went.
OV biggest improvement needed is moving his feet. Too much standing around last season (as has been said in the media).
Says his systems will focus on speed. Getting up fast and getting back fast.
All four coaches will be on the bench, which he says is a trend to look for in the NHL this season. In the past only a few teams may have had four guys on the bench, he thinks this season closer to a third of the teams will have four guys on the bench. Lane for Forward coaching, Todd for Defense coaching. Barry will handle the lines and assignments. Blaine will focus on any adjustments that need to be made and what the other team is doing.
Biggest disappointment since joining the Caps was the injury to Wilson. He was absolutely glowing when talking about Wilson. Says he definitely needs to play in top 9, but may get a slow start due to the injury. Mentioned his leadership and maturity, stating he had heard and confirmed that Wilson could very well be a future captain in the NHL.
Biggest good surprise was Mike Green. Had heard he was a quiet guy, but happily surprised with how vocal and in communication he has been. He has asked many questions and they have held multiple long conversations over phone, some of which Green initiated.
Mike Green and other offensively gifted Caps D will be given the green (no pun intended) light to jump up in the play more often. Says he was astounded at how little offense over the past couple of seasons was originated from the back-end. He said Green was very pleasantly surprised that Trotz would want him jumping up more. Mentioned less stressful minutes due to additions of Orpik and Niskanen should help him as well, but does need to get better around his own net.
He said he doesn't care a lot about Fancy Stats, but they can shed a light on things you hadn't noticed. He said no mater what the fancy stats say, at the end of a game he is going to have Backstrom on the ice, because he knows what he can do and he has seen it.
Does not foresee using a checking line role and says more and more NHL teams do not employ one.
PowerPlay will stay the same obviously, but hopes adding Todd Reirden to the staff will help fine tune it.
Lane Lambert will run the PK and work with the forward groups and says to expect a more aggressive penalty kill and he will focus on denying clean zone entries.
2nd Line center will be one of Kuznetsov, Johansson, Burakovsky, or Laich. Very excited about how well Burakovsky played in that role in the Dev Camp. If one of the younger guys does not grab the role then Laich can be a fall back. Blaine Forsythe will work with Centers, and PP. Has been working with Kuz this summer.
Expects Mitch Korn to get his own sitcom after 24/7. Said he is very funny and odd. Mitch is the best goalie coach in the world, used Carter Hutton, Tomas Vokoun, Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, and Pekka Rinne as evidence of Mitch's abilities.
Does not like playing young guys and rookies on the fourth line. Says he wants more established guys with families and kids on the 4th.
I think that's all.
edit: Oh yeah. Coaches have been in town recently together planning everything. Training camp groupings and schedule to when each player will be in which preseason games have already been planned. Says you must plan these things now, because injuries and good and bad play will necessitate changes to these plans. (Said he has Wilson in 3 preseason games with a bit of a smile)
On a side note, he said he loved coaching Matt Hendricks. Every team needs guys like him, but the fancy stats guys in Nashville said they needed to move him because his play was not good.